


Duty and Honor

by TheSecondBatgirl



Category: Iron Man (2008), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Community: marvel_crossing, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-18
Updated: 2009-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-04 13:45:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSecondBatgirl/pseuds/TheSecondBatgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhodey doesn't like everything his country asks him to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duty and Honor

James Rhodes knew that war wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t supposed to be. Soldiers had to do a lot of things in a time of war that civilians wouldn't understand or agree with. It was part of the job.

He was a lieutenant in the Air Force when he was assigned to aid William Stryker in his research. It should have been a good assignment. Stryker’s team had a reputation for getting a lot of funding, and the work that they were doing was top clearance. Surely, it would benefit the security of the United States, and that was why Jim had signed up in the first place. True, the Air Force had also paid for his schooling – both at the Air Force Academy and his graduate work at MIT.

He owed a lot to the United States government, and he intended to pay the government back for all that it had invested in him.

But, once he'd started working on the project, Rhodey thought that may be crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed. He had only been at Stryker’s for a few weeks before the big experiment was supposed to happen. Most of it was classified. He still wasn’t exactly sure what this miracle metal was, or how they had been given the go-ahead to test it on human subjects, or even who this Wolverine was. Stryker seemed to know him, and so did the others in his inner circle. There were all sorts of rumors, that this was just a part of the bigger experiment, that when Stryker’s Ultimate Weapon, Weapon XI was complete, that war as they knew it would be forever changed. That the country, and the whole world, would be a safer place.

Rhodey wasn’t quite sure what they were fighting against, but that wasn’t his job. His job was to act as a liaison for the tech that was being brought in. Wiser and more senior people than he were worrying about the 'why.' He had other things to do worrying about the 'how', like making sure that the equipment for the Weapon X experiment was going to run properly.

Rhodey watched the readouts as the experiment activated. He was supposed to be monitoring the process and making sure that they could duplicate it, as well as watching for any unforeseen stresses on the machinery. It should have been relatively easy, or at least as easy as any billion-dollar experiment was supposed to be.

That wasn’t how it happened. Instead, something went very wrong. It wasn’t just the volunteer nearly dying. It was what happened after. It was watching as people around him were killed and he didn’t even have a gun. It was waking up the next morning in a hospital bed to find out exactly how wrong things had gone. The program was being shut down, and he was going to be reassigned. This had never happened, and they were never to speak of it again.

At least Rhodey wouldn’t have to stay in the hospital for long. Weapon X hadn’t hit him with the claws that had carved up so many of his comrades, and he wasn’t injured beyond a few bruised ribs. That guy, Weapon X, the Wolverine… he had been an incredible fighter. Better than any of the guys that Rhodey had ever seen. He’d almost seemed inhuman, somehow.

That was the clue that finally let the pieces slide into place. He nearly dropped the glass he’d been holding as he realized exactly what Weapon X had been. A mutant. That was what they had been experimenting on. That was how it had survived.

Instead of protecting the country from harm, he had just help create a new threat to National Security. That wasn’t how it was supposed to work. He needed to tell someone in command. He needed to warn them. They had to start preparing to counteract a threat that they had just spent a billion dollars creating.

“Rhodes,” a voice said, and Rhodey automatically snapped to attention as a commanding officer came into his room.

“Sir,” he said automatically.

“General Munson has been murdered,” the other officer said shortly. “What do you know about it?”

“Sir?” James protested. “I wasn’t even aware of this until this moment. Was it because of the Weap-” He cut off before he accidentally said something that he shouldn’t. He had no idea if the officer even had the clearance to know about the program.

“I’m familiar with the Weapon X program,” the officer growled. “Now, what happened in there?”

“I’m sorry, Colonel,” Rhodey said. “I don’t know what I can do to help you.”

“There’s more to being an officer than following orders,” he was reminded sharply. “If you think of anything to help this investigation, give me a call.” A card was pressed into his hand, and the officer left the room. Rhodes stared at the name on the card, and thought that maybe he should give Colonel Fury a call back later.

~*~

He didn’t call anyone immediately. Instead, he waited and listened. There were all sorts of rumors about dozens of mutants who were disappearing. Rhodey hadn’t actually paid much attention to it before the Weapon X fiasco. He’d simply assumed that dangerous mutants were being rounded up by the appropriate facility. He hadn’t thought that some rogue lunatic military officer was doing it. That wasn’t how the government was supposed to operate. It wasn’t what he had signed up for.

Then Rhodey heard about Stryker’s other facility on Three Mile Island. He learned that was where they were going to transfer the Weapon X after they had finished with it, for further experiments. Nobody deserved that.

It took Rhodes almost a week to remember that he had no duty to Stryker. What he did need to do was to make sure that he still worked for a country that he could believe in. Picking up the phone, he dialed the number on the card. Orders or not, at least his conscience would be clear.

"Colonel Fury? This is Jim Rhodes. I have some information for you after all."

~*~

Two months later, Captain James Rhodes found himself assigned to Stark Industries as their new liaison. He knew Tony from MIT, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if Tony had requested him specifically. Tony always had been like that. He rewarded his friends. But everything considered, he certainly hadn’t expected to find himself at a party hosted by Stark Industries, talking to the rich and famous.

“Captain Rhodes,” a voice said from behind him, and Rhodey turned around.

“Hello,” he said, smiling at the unfamiliar man in the wheelchair.

“I’m Charles Xavier,” the man said by way of introduction. “I just wanted to thank you for your help two months ago. Fury said that without your information, we probably wouldn’t have made it in time.”

Rhodey blinked twice as he absorbed the information, wondering if he should ask what they had almost been to late for. He decided against it. “No thanks are necessary,” he said sincerely. “I was just doing my duty.”


End file.
